Bits and Pieces
by Whyndancer
Summary: A collection of drabbles and Ficlets. Some will use the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes as inspiration, some just sort of showed up.
1. Never

Never

She tells herself that she'll never eat peaches again.

For most of a year she has no difficulty maintaining this resolution, but it had been the very end of summer then, and peaches were past their season. She is able to focus on the friends she made and the wonder of her adventure.

When she passes the first bushel basket of the next summer's harvest, the smell nearly brings her to her knees. Her stomach twists and her mouth begins to water, and as she takes that first inevitable bite a tear of longing and regret rolls down her cheek.

* * *

Word count = 100

Well then. First posted anything in over a decade. This is going to be a collection of drabbles and ficlets wherein I practice imagery and characterization (and writing in general) while I work on writing and editing some larger works.

I will be using the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes list for some of these, but the first couple were independant inspiration.


	2. A Matter of Time

A Matter of Time

It had never really mattered before, and he had forgotten.

He had been sulking, heart battered and pride sore in the face of her rejection, so determined to not go crawling back to her, to not hand her his heart on a platter again, that it simply hadn't occurred to him. When his need to see her had finally outstripped his pride, it was too late.

His fingers traced the lines of her name cut into the granite slab, heart breaking anew. How could he have let himself forget how quickly mortals aged? It had only been a hundred years.

* * *

Word count - 100

No prompt.

Immortality is a difficult thing to really comprehend.


	3. Under The Rain

Under the Rain -#30

Because the underground mirrored the mood of its ruler it had seen more than its fair share of thunder and lightning. Rain however, was something the most of the inhabitants of the labyrinth had never known. Rain required moods that the Goblin King did not allow himself.

So when The Owl returned to the labyrinth one night followed by water falling from the sky, softly at first then increasing to a steady downpour, there was much in the way of terrified scrambling for cover. A handful of creatures though, three in particular, stood beneath the weeping sky in perfect understanding.

* * *

Word count - 100

Promt- #30- Under the Rain from the Jareth/ David Bowie Fangirl Harem

My brain keeps suggesting that this comes directly after " A Matter of Time" but it's not definite.

Wondering if I shouldn't maybe add the angst genre to Bits and Pieces. Good grief.


	4. Hold my Hand

Hold my Hand

"Is it gonna hurt?"

The Goblin King sighed heavily at the question. It was always harder when the wished away was old enough to understand what was happening. He stepped forward and dropped to one knee, bringing himself eye level with the too serious child standing in the middle of his throne room. Thick black curls framed dark, worried eyes that had shown only weary resignation when the mother had given up within the first hour.

He reached out and took the child's hand as the magic took hold and the change began.

"You won't feel a thing. I swear."

* * *

Word Count - 100

Prompt - #35 - Hold my Hand from the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes challenge

Fun fact- I use RPG percentile dice to determine what number I'm going to use next.


	5. Drive

And now for something completely different.

* * *

Drive

Hoggle wasn't quite sure how Didymus had acquired an ugly argyle sweater vest, flat cap and cleats in his size, but considering everything else the fox had assembled in the last few days he supposed he really shouldn't be surprised.

It had started the last time they'd gone to Sarah's for a visit. Didymus had stayed inside watching the Television with Toby while he'd helped Sarah in the garden out back. Since that day, it had been a non-stop stream of high-pitched chatter about 'The Gentleman's Sport' and a flurry of preparations.

Now Hoggle winced as a shrill bark of "Fore" rang out over the trees and a small round rock went flying up and up in a graceful arc only to land with a sickening _splorch_ in fetid green sludge.

"I's done told yeh t' bog weren't no proper place fer a water hazard."

* * *

So... I was contemplating the different meanings of the word Drive and _this_ happened.

Promt - #09 Drive from the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes challenge.

Word Count - 145 because this drabble would not cooperate.

I don't even.


	6. Misfortune

Misfortune

Sarah smiled as Hoggle finished his story, and picked up a bottle of nail polish from the top of her dresser. She didn't wear polish often, but the silvery lavender color was whimsical enough to appeal to her after a rough day in the 'real world'. Hoggle had been wonderful, telling her silly stories of goblin exploits until she was laughing nearly hard enough to cry.

She shook the bottle to mix it and met her friend's eyes in the mirror. "Thank you so much, Hoggle. You've been such a wonderful friend letting me whine about silly stuff and cheering me up."

"Ain't nuttin' Sarah, I'm jus glad-"

He was cut off by a loud crack when the nail polish bottle slipped from Sarah's grasp and flew across the room at the mirror, impacting right in the middle of his chest and marring his image with an ugly spider web of broken glass.

Her apology caught in her throat at the emptiness in Hoggle's eyes, and then was loosed as a shriek when blood began to seep from the cracks.

* * *

Word Count - 180 I'm just happy this stayed under 200

Prompt - #13 Misfortune from the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes challenge.

I spent most of the day trying to write this, getting freaked out, and running off to read fluff. Also work, but this one was hard to sit down to.

I also want to give a shoutout here to TheRealEatsShootsAndLeaves, Ellen Weaver, and FrancesOsgood who have been amazing and fabulous and have each reviewed each chapter I have posted so far. Thank you all so much, it really does mean a lot to me.


	7. Breaking the Rules

Breaking The Rules

She'd been having a weekly game night with her friends nearly a year before The Goblin King showed up with no warning or explanation and calmly dealt himself into the next hand of Uno. He had attended nearly every week thereafter.

She'd expected him to cheat at every opportunity, and while he would exploit every loophole and technicality he could find, he always stayed within the rules, no matter what they played, win or lose.

Eventually she managed to bring it up in conversation. He smirked at her.

"Force of habit. Where I'm from, breaking rules can have terrible consequences."

* * *

Word count - 100

Prompt - #50 Breaking the Rules from the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes challenge

Sorry for the delay, but this prompt refused to talk to me for almost 4 days.


	8. I Can't

I Can't

This had been building for years, and it was their most intense fight yet.

"Damn it Jareth, I won't do this anymore! This back and forth, caught between two worlds. Just leave me alone!"

"I can't!" He whirled on her, pinning her against the wall, forearm braced on the wall above her.

His eyes burned blue fire, and his expression twisted with something that was almost like pain and almost like desperation. Long fingers stroked her hair then traced the curve of her cheek. He lowered his head until his breath tickled her ear.

"Don't you understand that I can't?"

* * *

Word count - 100

Prompt - #73 I Can't from the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes challenge.

Does anyone know why FFnet won't send me emails after 9pm?


	9. Horror

Horror

_The house was dark and unnaturally quiet. The girl crept down the hall, knowing that evil lay in wait around one of these corners. A flicker of movement stopped her in her tracks and she took a step backwards only to bump into something. Something breathing._

Sarah shrieked as the room was plunged into darkness and a deafening thunderclap shook the house. Before she could catch her breath, she was no longer alone in the house.

Clothed in night and dripping menace, the Goblin King stood before her. She was almost terrified of him, but his back was to her and he had one hand out to the side, palm facing towards her in an unmistakably protective gesture.

"Jareth?" Her voice was breathy and nearly lost in the sounds of the raging storm outside.

"Sarah? Are you alright? You screamed." He did not turn to face her yet, nor did he drop his hand.

"I'm fine, I was just-" The lights and TV flicked back on just in time for the villain of the slasher flick to claim another victim in a particularly gruesome manner. "... watching a horror movie marathon and got really jumpy… and how did _you_ know that I screamed?"

He had begun to relax as it became apparent that there was no threat, but tensed again, in an entirely different manner, at her inquiry.

"Perhaps I should take my leave." His voice was subdued and just a bit wary and if it had been anyone else, _anyone_, she would have said that he looked sheepish. She smothered a grin. She could get the details later. For now…

"Actually, I'll probably sleep better tonight if I'm not watching this alone." He turned finally and their eyes met, his surprised but hopeful, hers warm and welcoming. She patted the seat next to her and smiled.

* * *

Word count - 307

Prompt- #65 Horror from the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes challenge.

#99 is being utterly illusive, so you get #65 first. Fluff is harder to write than angst. It is becoming ever more apparent that I have very little concious conrol over what these turn into.


	10. Solitude

Solitude

He made a point of getting lost in his labyrinth on a regular basis. Not lost in the sense there was ever a point where he didn't know exactly where he was and how to return, but lost in the sense that no one could find him.

While the labyrinth was home to a startling number of creatures, there were areas that were every bit as desolate as they seemed. Jareth was intimately familiar with every one of them. True solitude was something of a relief, because after all, even in the midst of his subjects, he was fundamentally alone.

* * *

Word Count - 100

Promt - #99 Solitude from the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes list

No wonder it took so long to pin this one down. It was wandering the labyrinth.


	11. Magic

Magic

"Would you like to see a magic trick?"

Toby looked up from the gleaming glass spheres dancing mesmerizing patterns over the man's leather clad hands. It was strange; he knew he'd never seen this man with his odd eyes and striking features before, but there was something warmly familiar about the way his eyebrow was raised in inquiry and how half of his mouth was curved up in a wry, almost indulgent grin.

The man's smile widened when their eyes met and he began to spin the crystals faster. All of a sudden, instead of two crystal orbs the man was holding a silk cord stretched between his hands. a pretty glass owl pendant hanging from the middle.

Toby's eyes went wide. "Cool!"

He found himself reaching toward the charm, an idea forming. "Hey mister, do you know where I could buy one of these owls? I was looking for something to get my sister for her birthday." He looked over to where Sarah was still busy talking with the lady at the falconry tent. He had decided that the Renaissance Faire would be the best place find her gift even if it would be harder to keep it a secret.

The man followed his gaze, tilting his head in consideration. "A worthy quest indeed. Unfortunately, though it is but a trinket, this pendant is not available from any merchant here today. However," he continued as Toby's face fell, "I would be willing to part with this one."

"Really? How much? I don't have much, but I've been saving my allowance and-"

At this the man held up his hand. "I suggest a trade." He gestured to the braided leather keychain with it's feather charm that had been a gift from Sarah two years prior. "A trinket for a trinket. I need _something_ to put in my act."

Toby considered it. He really liked the keychain, but Sarah was always giving him little knick-knacks and it wouldn't be the first time he'd lost one. He looked again at the little owl, with it's wide eyes and heart shaped face and knew that this was the present he'd been hunting for. He unhooked the keychain from his pack and held it out.

Sarah called him over just as he was tucking the necklace in his pocket. "Coming!" He turned to thank the juggler but found only bootprints in the soft grass.

* * *

Word Count - 400

Prompt - #62 Magic from the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes challenge list.

I'm not sure if I should blame Jareth or Toby, but after figuring out what I wanted to do with this prompt and sitting down to write it, I had to start over twice because I wound up telling a completely different story. You will likely see both of them at some point in this collection. I'm also trying hard not to feel like I'm cheating, despite the fact that I never explicitly set myself a word limit for these fics.


	12. Expectations

Expectations

Sarah groaned as she collapsed onto her bed. Her father and stepmother had been late getting home and as much as she loved Toby, his head cold had made them both miserable tonight.

Dress rehearsals for the senior play were tomorrow, tonight's math and English homework lay untouched on her desk, and she still had three college application essays to finish by the end of the week. As her fingers brushed the white and tawny feather beneath her pillow, she had a thought that drew a pained laugh from her.

_I'm exhausted from living up to their expectations of me._

* * *

Word Count - 100

Prompt - #33 Expectations from the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes challenge.

I found my _Goblins of Labyrinth_ artbook the other day. Expect goblin fic in the near future, because that book is gold.


	13. Stay

Stay

He'd wondered for a moment if he was in love with her. But only for a moment. He had lived too long for such delusions. This was about boredom and loneliness.

He'd played his part and she'd played his game and had gotten his attention. For these few hours he had been truly alive. But she'd reached the castle and found the child and now she was leaving. He didn't want her to go. So he would use the only words he could to ask her to stay, even as he saw the truth dawning in her cruel, beautiful eyes.

* * *

Word Count - 100

No prompt, but this was inspired by the song "Stay With Me" by Sam Smith. Go listen to it.

Meanwhile, I will see if I can't beat one of the dozen other half formed concepts I have into shape.


	14. Drink

Drink

Sarah glared at the glass not six inches from where her chin was resting on the table. It was still almost half full of a pale violet liquid that shimmered faintly. She thought it entirely unfair that she hadn't even managed to empty her first glass before it had decided to play at being two glasses, neither of which could she quite seem to focus on.

She heard the sound of a chair scraping across the floor and was vaguely aware of a blurred form settling down in the seat across from her. "Tell me precious, why in all the worlds are you sitting here alone drinking fairy wine of all things?"

She gave up on trying to pin down the multiplying beverages and curled in on herself, burying her face in her arms. "Don' wanna think t'night. Don' wanna feel. Hurtsh."

"Ah."

The quiet understanding in his voice was her undoing, and everything she had been trying to ignore came spilling out of her in a high keening moan and the smell of saltwater. He said nothing and did not move from his chair, but his hand found hers across the table and he let her cling to it.

* * *

Word count - 200

Prompt - #78 Drink from the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes challenge

This is not at all what I thought it was going to be when I wrote the first sentence.

Also, I keep forgetting to mention that I have a secondary drabble collection now named Dreams and Nightmares for my M rated snippets.


	15. Advertisement

Advertisement

Sarah gaped at the billboard in stunned disbelief. It took approximately thirty seconds for her bewilderment to slide solidly into blinding rage.

She was going to _kill _him. She was going to march home, drag out her steel toed studded boots and then she was going to hunt down His Glitteryness and show him _exactly _what she thought of his latest stunt in what had been an escalating campaign of passive aggressive attention seeking. Well he certainly had her attention now.

While the pose obscured the face (and hands, godsdamn that cheating fairy bastard she _still_ hadn't gotten to see what his hands looked like under the gloves) of the model in the black and white Armani underwear ad, everything else was really rather unmistakable.

Word count - 125

Prompt - #95 Advertisement from the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes challenge.

So after two weeks of struggling with prompts and inspiration, at 2 am last night as I'm finally drifting off I am blindsided by inspiration for no less than three different drabbles. So of course I have to grab my pen and paper and write all this crap down before sleep steals it. 2 am.


	16. Dawn

Dawn

She had torn his cage away from him bit by bit, peeling layers of anger, fear, magic and pain away from the heart of him in a succession of encounters neither of them had understood at first. In time, as the cruelty and inhumanity of the Goblin King was slowly stripped away, he had come to understand that she was his salvation.

And now standing with her at the threshold between the world that had birthed him and the world that had bound him, he wept as she drew him forward into the light of a dawn he had forgotten.

Word Count - 100

Inspiration - Little Wonders by Rob Thomas


	17. Dreams

Dreams

For as long as he could remember Toby Williams had always had Interesting dreams. He'd learned to be cautious, though, in what he told others about his dreams. More than once he'd been told that his dreams sounded like nightmares, like the time he'd dreamed about caves filled with fire that never went out, or the Forest of Eternal Night, or going swimming in a lake full of monsters. Toby didn't think those dreams counted as proper nightmares, because nightmares were supposed to be frightening, and in his dreams the Blue Eyed Man was always there to keep him safe.

* * *

Word count - 100

Prompt - #39 Dreams from the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes challenge.

I find my creative juices flow best when I'm writing on real paper with my fancy calligraphy pens. It's honestly kind of annoying, but whatever works I guess.


	18. Dying

Dying

She is dying and there is nothing he can do to stop it. It's no great surprise, he's managed to delay it for centuries now, but she is ultimately mortal and all his magic cannot change that. He had been able to keep most of the aches and ills of aging from plaguing her, but the rich brown of her hair had faded inexorably to silver this last century and they'd known her time was coming to an end. They've had almost 400 years together now. Years that have seen the birth of their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and more joy than he had known in all of the millennia he had lived before her. And when she breathes no more he will lie down beside her and let himself fade. They are both ready for their next forever.

Word count - 140

Prompt- #43 Dying from the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes challenge.

There's something I keep meaning to say here. Or to ask. But I keep forgetting when I'm actually ready to post and I'd prefer not to delay that.


	19. Give Up

Give Up

She had been working toward this moment for years. It had probably started when he'd beat her at checkers the first time they played. Before that game she'd been the reigning checkers champion of both the house and her unorthodox weekly game nights for almost six years and had been rapidly gaining skill at chess. She was somehow less surprised when he subsequently trounced her at chess, and not quite as put out about it, but she had taken it as a challenge all the same.

She had made discreet inquiries as to what games or cultures he might be less familiar with and spent much of her free time in the next years learning a strategy game from the other side of the world. She'd taken to it even more keenly than checkers or chess and what had begun as a mission was now a true pleasure. After five years of study she'd felt confident in challenging him.

She held the round white stone up to her lips as she utterly failed to conceal a smirk. Perhaps it hadn't been quite fair to spend so long teaching herself the nuances of the game and then give him a fifty second rundown on the rules before the game started, but she had him right where she wanted him now.

"Well, Goblin King," she drawled, placing the piece and claiming a sizable territory, "are you ready to give up yet?"

He merely cocked an eyebrow at her and continued the game. She realized her mistake just a few moves later and watched, shell shocked as proceeded to spring his trap and nearly wipe her off the board.

The smugness in his voice was nearly unbearable as he addressed her.

"Tell me precious, what was it you were saying about giving up?"

* * *

Word Count - 300

Prompt - #93 Give Up from the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes challenge.

I'm not an expert on Go, so please forgive me if the above scenario was not entirely plausible. I think it is but... Blame Jareth if it's not. If anyone was wondering this takes place a few years after "Breaking the Rules"


	20. Do Not Disturb

Do Not Disturb

She finally found her husband in his private study above the throne room. It was the only room in the castle that that was more difficult to access than their bedroom and she knew he only bothered with it when he was desperate for some peace and quiet.

Books and papers lay scattered across the desk and he had fallen asleep slumped over it with his forehead propped up against his palm, white-blond hair in true disarray rather than the artfully constructed wildness he usually favored.

She took a moment to tidy the papers he'd been working on before leaning into him and pressing a kiss to his temple. He started awake, head falling off his hand, and blinked tiredly up at her.

"Sarah? What-" She cut him off with a soft kiss.

"Come to bed Jareth. This will all still be here in the morning, and we'll both sleep better with you in bed instead of in this chair."

He smiled fondly at her and wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her down onto his lap as he pulled a crystal that would take the both of them to bed out of thin air . "As you wish, precious."

* * *

Word Count - 200

Promt - #63 Do Not Disturb

from the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes challenge.

I wanted to write a little piece of fluff. I think I succeeded, and am hoping I didn't go to far over the line into saccharine. Eh. Enjoy the fluff while it lasts. I think more angst is coming soon.


	21. Memory

Memory

She paused in front of the bookcase, hand hovering above the neat row of books before her brow wrinkled in confusion. What had she been looking for again?

She turned and walked back to where the script she'd been memorizing for the school play sat open on her vanity. Her father and step-monster were out on a date again, and she wanted to take advantage of her time alone in the house to act out her part at full volume. Time to herself was her favorite part of being an only child.

She stopped short again at that thought, the dissonance in her mind now almost a physical pain. Why did that seem so wrong? She'd always been an only child_. _This was getting ridiculous. These moments of discomfort and confusion had been steadily increasing ever since… Ever since what? She couldn't remember anything that might have sparked these episodes, but somehow she knew there was a specific cause. She suspected it had something to do with the fact that no matter how many times she went over the script or how diligently she rehearsed, she could never quite shake the feeling that she was forgetting the most important line.

Word Count - 200

Prompt - #11 Memory from the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes challenge.

Does this count as angst? Again, it did something rather different than I first thought it was.


	22. Fortitude

Fortitude

They'd called it fortitude when she'd sat, stone faced through her diagnosis. When she'd remained calm and composed, almost serene, as every new specialist her family found could do no more than confirm the imminently terminal nature of her illness.

She didn't bother to explain to them that she'd been dead inside for years. She'd only been going through the motions of living ever since she'd finally fought her way back to the fantastical world where she had come of age. She'd picked her way over the ruined walls to the shattered castle, and when she'd finally found it's once proud and mercurial king, she was too late to do anything but watch him fade to nothing in her arms.

* * *

Word Count - 120

Prompt - #20 Fortitude from the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes challenge.

We now return to your regularly scheduled angst.

P.S. Writing longer stuff is hard.


	23. Hunting

Hunting

The stillness of the night air was shattered by a cry that seemed to Sarah like the shriek of a tortured soul. An armful of firewood clattered to the porch as she raced to the door. When her father had suggested that the two of them spend the weekend at her grandparents cabin while Karen and Toby visited her parents, she had jumped at the chance to reconnect. Spending the weekend in a haunted house in the middle of nowhere was somewhat less appealing.

"Dad!"

Her father looked up from the fire he was building in the hearth and laughed when he saw how she was plastered to the inside of the door she'd just slammed behind her.

"Relax sweetheart, it's just a barn owl. There must be one living in the woods nearby, maybe out in the old Hensen barn. That was a hunting cry that they use to scare prey."

He turned back to the fire a moment too soon to see the blood drain from Sarah's face.

* * *

Word Count - 170

Prompt - # 82 Can You Hear Me?

from the Jareth/David Bowie Fangirl Harem 100 themes challenge.

Fun fact (and personal pet peeve in Labyfic)- Barn Owls do not hoot. They chip, they chitter, they warble, they make the sound described above. No hooting. Look it up on You Tube. Headphones are probably a bad idea.


	24. Costume

Costume

"Not that I'm complaining, Precious, but what _are _you wearing?"

Sarah turned from the mirror to where the Goblin King was leaning in her doorway, shoulder propped against the frame and head cocked in inquery. She grinned.

"Good evening, your majesty. It just so happens that tonight is Halloween."

An eyebrow went up. " I am aware of the festivities occurring tonight, what I don't know is what you are supposed to be dressed as."

She could see his eyes panning over her grey tights, flowing white shirt and black vest, up to where she had her hair pulled up tight and smiled even wider.

"Can't you guess?" She reached into the closet and pulled out the bleach blond Tina Turner wig. "I'm going as you.

* * *

Word count - 125

Prompt - Happy Halloween

This kind of came out of nowhere, but I got it up before midnight. At least, before midnight in the US


End file.
